Katherine Peters | Faculty Member

As the founder of Comforts of Home – Care, Katherine takes great comfort in knowing she and her team of caregivers make life better for hundreds of families in Winnipeg and beyond each and every day. You simply will not find another caregiving organization like Comforts of Home – Care. This is because Katherine Peters truly understands that people often have mountains to climb.

As a single mom solely supporting her family, Katherine had to work doubly hard to attend university to earn a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours. She understands the fundamental challenges of balancing work, career and providing care for loved ones. Furthermore, while her career as a social worker at a major Winnipeg hospital was rewarding, it broke her heart to see vulnerable patients leaving hospital every day with little support and their reactions when they were advised that their best option might be a bed in a personal care home.

Because so many people had relatives living away or neighbours who could not take time off work to help, she opened Comforts of Home – Care to help seniors stay in their homes for as long as possible. She felt she could be the next best thing to family. Her caregivers live by the motto,

“We do anything any good daughter or son would do.” You want us to garden, shop, clean the fridge, bake cookies, prepare meals, walk the dog, wash dishes – we do it with a smile!

Then tragedy struck shortly after Comforts of Home – Care opened. Katherine’s then 77-year-old mother was the victim of a home invasion that made national headlines across the nation for its severity and brutality. Strangled, pushed down the basement stairs, and bashed with rifle butts, she was left for dead. Margaret Peters miraculously survived and returned to her independent lifestyle after months of hardship and rehabilitation; but things can never be the same trusting way they were.

Since then Katherine has been an outspoken advocate for seniors and for vulnerable people. She is a frequent speaker at events, sharing the painful lessons learned so others can be protected from violence. She is active in work to prevent elder abuse, recognizing caregivers, and supporting organizations that provide service and support to seniors and the vulnerable.

Katherine understands only too well that we must be vigilant in protecting our loved ones and those who may not have people to watch out for them. As a result of her own family’s experience, you will not find another caregiving organization with more safeguards or stringent screening and hiring procedures than Comforts of Home – Care Inc.

Katherine Peters has been honoured with the 2011 Women’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Excellence in Service. She has also been awarded a Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Marketplace Excellence in recognition of superior commitment to exceptional standards.